The First Time
by Nic Oakes
Summary: The first time Stephanie 'Stevie' Quem meets the marauders. First set of the series of 'Off-Shots' from the 'Valica' series.
1. Chapter 1

_The first time I met James Potter, my heart stopped._  
_The first time I met Remus Lupin, I couldn't breath._  
_The first time I met Sirius Black, my legs turned to jelly._


	2. James Charlus Potter

_The first time I met James Potter, my heart stopped._  
No, not because I was in love with him, or because he was _so_ absolutely gorgeous.  
No. My heart stopped because I was pretty sure he was going to kill me.

My first day at King's Cross had been eventful enough. Lily's muggle contraption that was supposed to wake us up at eight forty-five had failed us, causing us to wake up thirty five minutes late, and forty minutes was hardly enough time for me to get dressed and tame my annoyingly long hair, especially when I was sharing a bathroom with Lily Evans. Then, when I had went down the street to Severus's house, where I was supposed to ride with them to King's Cross, I had come to find that Severus's father had spent the whole night drinking and taking out his anger on Severus's mum, which meant she couldn't drive us to the station. So Severus, Lily, her annoying sister Petunia who treated me as if I was the plague, and me all had to ride in the back of the monstrocities which muggles used for transportation. And since I was the smallest, I was forced to ride on the inside, with my legs draped over Severus, and me practically leaning on Lily. We were late, of course, to the station, and only had eight minutes left to board the train and be off. Lily's parents and sister had left us at the barrier, and I was left with Lily and Severus, which would have been fine, except for the fact that due to my small size and their hurry to board the train, it went unnoticed when suddenly I wasn't by their side anymore. Some tall pale haired girl had cut in front of me, and I had been forced to stop to avoid running into her. By the time she was out of my way, Lily and Severus had disappeared in the crowd of students all running late and trying to board the train.  
Obviously, I wasn't lost, it was kind of hard to miss the big freaking red train in front of my eyes, but _still_, there is something disconcerting about being in an unfamiliar country, in an unfamiliar train station, at an unfamiliar platform, with what seemed to be hundreds of unfamilar faces around you. So I had stopped and hesitated, wondering if maybe it would just be better to wait and let all the people around me go ahead and scramble for the train, and then go once the crowds had died down. Or maybe Severus and Lily had noticed my absence and come to look for me... I would have felt foolish if I had been aboard the train while they searched the platform for me. What if they missed the train for that reason?  
Deep in thought, trying to make a decision, I wasn't exactly paying attention to my surroundings. And then all of the sudden, people were yelling '_Lookout!'_. Surprisingly, when you're in imminent danger of dying, time really does seem to slow down. The cart had to be moving fast, and was pick up more and more speed, but looking at it, I was able to recognize that there were three trunks of luggage, two owl cages, three cauldrons, not to mention a lanky, petrified looking raven haired boy, all about to crush me.  
Then it dawned on me that I was in the way, and that I was totally screwed, because my legs were frozen, and all I could do was stand there admiring how pretty one of the birds were, and that the boy flying towards me was about my age.  
And then suddenly, something from the opposite direction hit me _hard_, and I was sent flying to the side, and being crushed by something.


	3. Remus John Lupin

_The first time I laid eyes on Remus Lupin I couldn't breathe_.

As soon as I hit the ground, all of the air was knocked out of me. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to breathe.  
"Oh crap! Are you alright? Did you hit your head?"

I opened my eyes to see my rescuer. The boy seemed around my age as well, which meant he was twelve or thirteen. He had wavy brown hair that seemed to be in need of a trim, given that it was brushing my forehead... or maybe he was just _really_ close to my face. I searched his face for flaws; his nose was slightly bulky, and his skin held a slight ashen hue. But his eyes were pretty; with different shades of green and gold and brown twisted in them... hazel didn't seem to do them justice.  
I was trying to breathe, but he was on top of me and squishing my diaphram. I really couldn't breathe.  
"Could you do me a favor?" I gasped out.  
"Of course," He said eagerly, his pretty eyes full of concern. "What do you need?"  
"For you to get off of me." I admitted in a raspy voice.  
His eyes widened drastically and his palor skin suddenly turned a bright red. "Oh yeah, sure, of course." He pushed himself up off of the ground and offered me his hand. I reached up and grasped it.  
"I'm Remus." He said, not letting go of my hand so he could shake it. He seemed a tad bit awkward, and his face was still red.  
I took a few deep breathes before smiling at him, "Stevie."  
"Sorry I crushed you." He blurted quickly.  
I couldn't help but let the smile turn into a grin. "It's okay. I would take being crushed by you over being crushed by an idiot on a luggage rack, any day?"  
He smiled and rubbed the back of his neck, and I chuckled at his bashfulness.  
"Yeah, James is definitely not the smartest guy in our year... I told him not to try and ride the luggage cart, but I think he was ignoring me."  
"Ah, he's a friend of yours?" I asked, raising one eyebrow.  
Remus blushed again and rubbed the back of his neck, "Unfortunately... yes."

"OH MAN, REMUS THAT WAS SO AWESOME! YOU'VE GOT TO TRY THAT!" Someone yelled, and we were joined by my attacker.  
At a closer look, I was able to inspect the trouble-maker more. His black hair was incredibly messy, though it may have just been wind-blown from traveling down the platform at like a _hundred_ freaking miles an hour.  
"Who's your friend, Remus?" James asked.  
Remus opened his mouth but I cut him off, "No need to introduce me, I can speak for myself." I turned to the messy haired boy with the hazel eyes and crossed my arms. "I'm Stevie Quem, and you have killed me!"

James seemed shocked by my outburst and he stared dumbly at me for a few moments. "Isn't Stevie a boy's name?"  
Remus actually hung his head and shook it. James smiled at me, obviously picking and I could instantly tell that this was the kind of person who was used to getting away with everything because he was rich, spoiled, and had a charming personality. How did I know? Because I was that kind of person too... which meant I was immune to his charms.  
I probably shouldn't have done what I did, but I was frustrated, and kind of insulted. So I kicked him in the shin. He yelped and stumbled slightly.  
"It's short for Stephanie, you jerk. And when you almost _kill_ someone, it's proper ettiquite to _apoligize_!" I huffed, before turning back to Remus, "Thanks for not letting me die. It was nice to meet you." And then I turned away from the two of them and marched purposely to the train, stopping only to grab my trunk and drag it along behind me. _Where the hell was Severus?_

Once I got to the actual train, I seen the issue in my boarding. There was a small step up onto the train and while it was an easy step up for me, it wouldn't be easy for me to lift my trunk... I wasn't much for physical labor.  
"Need a hand?" I turned to see an older boy... probably fourteen or fifteen, with short cropped brown hair and a stocky build.  
"Yes please." I admitted, smiling as he easily lifted my trunk onto the train and even offered me a hand up.  
"Are you a first year?"  
"Not... technically. I just transferred here, and I'm going into my second."  
"Oh, that's pretty cool. I didn't know Hogwarts allowed students to transfer." He nodded slightly, though I think it was more of a 'that's cool' nod than a 'yes' nod. "Well good luck here at Hogwarts!" I thanked him again and he set on his own way while I stood there, looking left and right, wondering where to find Severus and Lily. Shrugging to myself and sighing, I set off in the 'left' direction.  
I should have went right.


End file.
